Investigation of pathogenic bacterial contaminations of fisn handled in Mannar, Sri Lanka

Abstract

attached

About 19,000 Metric tons of marine fish is produced in Mannar annually and information oncurrent microbiological quality of fish produced in Mannar is not adequate. Therefore, thepresent study investigated into the pathogenic bacteria in fish and sources of contamination offish during the period from May to September in 2016. This study assessed faecal coliform,Escherichia coli (E.coli), and Salmonella in 14 fish samples from one day boats, 12 samplesfrom fish collecting sheds (Wadiya) by the lagoon, 11 samples of lagoon water used for washingof fish, 9 ice samples used for chilling of fish at Wadiya, 19 swab samples from fish holds ofboats and 7 swab samples from floors of Wadiya. About 54% of fish collected from both boatand Wadiya (14/26) contained E.coli in the range of 0.36–460 MPN/g whereas Salmonella sp.was present in 7% (1/14) of fish obtained from boats alone. Lagoon water samples and icesamples obtained from Wadiya were highly contaminated with E.coli having MPN numbersranging from 350 to 5500 and from 20 to >18000 MPN/100 mL respectively. Salmonella sp.was present in 11% (1/9) of ice samples. The population level of E.coli in swabs obtained infish hold of boats and Wadiya ranged from 5 to >1800 and from 350 to >1800 MPN/cm 2,respectively. Salmonella sp. was absent in both Wadiya and boats. Results of the present studyshowed that fish landed at fish landing sites in Mannar were contaminated with pathogenicbacteria such as Salmonella sp. High faecal contaminations as mentioned above existed in mainutilities used in fish handling such as lagoon water and ice showing the need for supply of goodquality water and ice while pathogenic bacterial contaminations on the surfaces of boats andWadiya indicate the need for adopting better sanitation procedures such as use of sanitizers toclean fish contacting surfaces at fish landing sites in Mannar